Michael John David "Mike" Westbrook (born March 21, 1936 in High Wycombe, England; died April 11, 2026) was a British jazz musician (piano, tuba, bandleader, compositions, arrangements).

His work is largely "responsible for the emancipation of British jazz" from American models (Ian Carr).

Westbrook, the son of a piano teacher and an amateur drummer, received his first lessons from his mother, but learned the instrument—as he later did the trumpet—largely autodidactically. Until 1962, he studied fine arts in Plymouth and London, where he also became involved with jazz, though he lacked formal training as a composer and arranger. In 1960, he organized a jazz workshop at the Plymouth Arts Centre with a band that included John Surman and Keith Rowe.

In 1962, he moved to London, where he initially worked as an art teacher and formed a permanent six-piece group that included Surman (performing at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1968). Alongside this, in 1967, he founded the large-scale Mike Westbrook Concert Band, with which he performed his longer compositions and which included musicians such as Harry Beckett, Kenny Wheeler, Alan Skidmore, Mike Osborne, Paul Rutherford, Michael Gibbs, Barre Phillips, and Harry Miller. Between 1970 and 1972, he co-directed the multimedia group Cosmic Circus with John Fox (Welfare State Theatre Group).

With his group Solid Gold Cadillac, he played jazz-rock between 1971 and 1973; guitarist Chris Spedding and singer Phil Minton were among the members. In 1973, he founded his brass band to perform jazz and vaudeville productions in theater and television. This band formed the core of his large ensembles for special projects. He also formed a trio with his wife, singer Kate Westbrook, and saxophonist Chris Biscoe; he occasionally performed as a duo with Kate Westbrook.

Since the 1970s, Westbrook has presented a wide variety of projects – from a contemporary version of Rossini's opera William Tell with bassoonist Lindsay Cooper to a jazz version of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. Other projects explored the work of William Blake or the tradition of Duke Ellington, as in 1984's *On Duke's Birthday*. Musically, Westbrook expanded the repertoire by using popular tunes, rock, operatic arias, and ethnic music as the foundation for jazz improvisations in these productions.

The project *The Cortège*, which won the Grand Prix du Disque Montreux in 1982, is considered his magnum opus. In 1986, the Westbrook Orchestra toured with the Extemporary Dance Theater, choreographed by Emilyn Claid. Westbrook has toured extensively throughout Europe and overseas with his various projects. He has performed some of his works with radio orchestras in Rome, Venice, Stockholm, and Copenhagen; he has also composed music for television dramas and documentaries. "Westbrook repeatedly manages to bridge the gap between jazz and classical music, folk music and rock, variety and workshop in a highly entertaining way."

On Duke's Birthday 1

The Mike Westbrook Concert Band - Transition

The Mike Westbrook Concert Band ‎– Conflict

 

Rest In Peace Mike Westbrook